Local Man Selling Infected Poultry Knowingly

[aoxa]

The State Vet that does the NPIP testing in my area,  says to do what you stated when you I go to a Chicken sale or Chicken Show.  He says before I go out to my Chicken Pens I should wash my cloths, shower, never wear the same shoes in my pens that I wear to the sales, bleach my boots.   He says that most of the Chickens sold at chicken auctions are sick from some type of disease.   That the owners most of the time are fully aware that the birds they are selling are sick.  By taking them to the auction at least they can get a little something for them instead of killing them.    Kind of sounds Greasy, but that is the  way people are these days.  Not too many Honest people around anymore.  It's all about the Dollar...  If my flock was to get infected I would kill all of them and start over again.  I have already done it once and would do it again rather than sell infected birds.  The best thing to do is raise your own birds and never bring a new bird into the flock.  He my just be drugged up to make him look well.   You never known until your flock is sick that the bird you brought in was sick.  

Not everyone at the sales around here is dishonest or has sick birds. There are people that sell at the sales that also show in the shows. They vaccinate their flocks and practice proper bio-security at their farm. That is why they would rather sell their birds in a location that is not getting heavy foot traffic.

The problem with doing so is that if you bring your birds to the sale, and they don't all sell, you could be bringing back birds that are contaminated. I didn't bring back any of my own. I dropped the prices close to the end of the day so I wouldn't have to. I do not have sick birds, and I believe I am an honest, trustworthy person. I wish more were like me, but I have met my fair share of tricksters. I have also met my fair share of honest, hard-working and caring people. Most of the latter is attached to the show scene, and are serious about breeding with the SOP in mind.

We don't NPIP test here in Canada. I'm not even sure what exactly that entails? Care to elaborate?

 

[speckledhen]

NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan, which was started to protect the food supply from Pullorum/Typhoid, which have pretty much been eradicated in the U.S. now due to this program. It was not originally intended for backyard flocks.

NPIP does NOT mean the flock is healthy or that it is free of Chronic Respiratory Disease, which includes Mycoplasmosis Gallisepticum and Mycoplasmosis Synovaie (MG and MS) and can give a false sense of security to buyers and sellers alike. It's a gov't program driven by the USDA. Most interstate shipments of hatching eggs and live birds are supposed to be NPIP, but of course, if you've checked out BST here, you know most are not.

Some pay extra to do the quarterly testing for MG, but most do not go that far.

 

[aoxa]

NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan, which was started to protect the food supply from Pullorum/Typhoid, which have pretty much been eradicated in the U.S. now due to this program. It was not originally intended for backyard flocks.

NPIP does NOT mean the flock is healthy or that it is free of Chronic Respiratory Disease, which includes Mycoplasmosis Gallisepticum and Mycoplasmosis Synovaie (MG and MS) and can give a false sense of security to buyers and sellers alike. It's a gov't program driven by the USDA. Most interstate shipments of hatching eggs and live birds are supposed to be NPIP, but of course, if you've checked out BST here, you know most are not.

 
Some pay extra to do the quarterly testing for MG, but most do not go that far.

Thank you Cynthia.

Is it a costly program? We do not have to pay for vaccinations here.

 

[leadwolf1]

If I recall correctly, it would have cost my daughter $300 for the testing and they must be retested yearly in order to maintain your status. Since it doesn't cover the diseases that I'm more concerned about, I haven't even bothered checking into it. As speckledhen says, it doesn't cover everything that is devastating to the backyard chicken person..I'm gonna add Marek's to that list.

 

[aoxa]

If I recall correctly, it would have cost my daughter $300 for the testing and they must be retested yearly in order to maintain your status.  Since it doesn't cover the diseases that I'm more concerned about, I haven't even bothered checking into it.  As speckledhen says, it doesn't cover everything that is devastating to the backyard chicken person..I'm gonna add Marek's to that list.

Those tests should definitely be included in the improvement plan, seeing as the mortality is so high in Mareks.

Here is a closer visual of one of her infected Chanteclers.

 

[speckledhen]

Costs vary by state. Since it was not created specifically for the backyard flock owner, but for the commercial industry, it doesn't cover as a rule the most common diseases of backyard flocks, the ones that can decimate a flock and cause so much heartache.

NPIP tests but does not vaccinate. It's up to the owner if they want to vaccinate for anything. I don't.

I am not NPIP nor do I ever plan to become so. I practice reasonable and common sense biosecurity to keep disease out of my flock and wish to keep the gov't out of my day-to-day business as much as possible. If I decide to become some big time breeder and make a practice of mailing out hatching eggs regularly, then I may change my mind in order to do that legally, but I don't see that happening.

 

[aoxa]

Costs vary by state. Since it was not created specifically for the backyard flock owner, but for the commercial industry, it doesn't cover as a rule the most common diseases of backyard flocks, the ones that can decimate a flock and cause so much heartache.

NPIP tests but does not vaccinate. It's up to the owner if they want to vaccinate for anything. I don't.

I am not NPIP nor do I ever plan to become so. I practice reasonable and common sense biosecurity to keep disease out of my flock and wish to keep the gov't out of my day-to-day business as much as possible. If I decide to become some big time breeder and make a practice of mailing out hatching eggs regularly, then I may change my mind in order to do that legally, but I don't see that happening.

 

I have to vaccinate to be able to show. That's why I started doing it in the first place.

and I only vaccinate against ILT as it is a reportable disease.

 

[aoxa]

Costs vary by state. Since it was not created specifically for the backyard flock owner, but for the commercial industry, it doesn't cover as a rule the most common diseases of backyard flocks, the ones that can decimate a flock and cause so much heartache.

NPIP tests but does not vaccinate. It's up to the owner if they want to vaccinate for anything. I don't.

I am not NPIP nor do I ever plan to become so. I practice reasonable and common sense biosecurity to keep disease out of my flock and wish to keep the gov't out of my day-to-day business as much as possible. If I decide to become some big time breeder and make a practice of mailing out hatching eggs regularly, then I may change my mind in order to do that legally, but I don't see that happening.

 

Cynthia,

Do you ever buy adult birds at all?

 

[speckledhen]

Cynthia,
Do you ever buy adult birds at all?

Nope.

Bought one years ago, back in 2006, my first rooster. He came to me with lice/mites, favus and malnutrition, from an FFA kid who should have known better, for cripes sake, but thankfully, no respiratory illness. He was in quarantine for 5 weeks. Then, a friend whose flock had never had so much as a sneeze and who I trusted completely gave me an 8 week old pullet she hatched from eggs from a breeder working on a new Ameraucana color as a gift, since I had gifted her with birds as well. That pullet was in quarantine for longer than Hawkeye in a separate coop. She was very healthy and she is now over 4 years old.

Those are the ONLY two birds who ever came here in the almost 7 years I've kept chickens, other than a few chicks straight from the Ideal Poultry shipment at the local feedstore (who does not allow customers to handle chicks). All others are now hatched from my own birds or from eggs from reputable breeders I know personally and trust and know their culling practices for disease.

 

[aoxa]

Nope.

Bought one years ago, back in 2006, my first rooster. He came to me with lice/mites, favus and malnutrition, from an FFA kid who should have known better, for cripes sake, but thankfully, no respiratory illness. He was in quarantine for 5 weeks. Then, a friend whose flock had never had so much as a sneeze and who I trusted completely gave me an 8 week old pullet she hatched from eggs from a breeder working on a new Ameraucana color as a gift, since I had gifted her with birds as well. That pullet was in quarantine for longer than Hawkeye in a separate coop. She was very healthy and she is now over 4 years old.

Those are the ONLY two birds who ever came here in the almost 7 years I've kept chickens, other than a few chicks straight from the Ideal Poultry shipment at the local feedstore (who does not allow customers to handle chicks). All others are now hatched from my own birds or from eggs from reputable breeders I know personally and trust and know their culling practices for disease.

You are admirable! Many people should really think twice before adding just any adult bird, but the majority don't.. And that is why diseases are so common..

What does your quarantine area consist of? How far is it away from your flock? I know you haven't had the need to quarantine in a while, but just curious.